Lexa opened her eyes, only to squeeze them shut again when she found bright sunlight flooding her room. Groaning, she reached for her timepiece, which had been left on the bedside table the night before. Terrific, she thought. 7AM. Only four hours of sleep. Despite the early hour she tossed back the covers, knowing she'd never get back to sleep with all the sunlight in the room. That's what I get, she thought, pulling on her clothes from the night before, for being the last one to go to bed. The only room in the house that faces east. She had spent more than an hour the night before, just watching Jesse sleep, watching for any signs of pain. Exhaustion had finally gotten the better of her, though, and she had sought out a bed.
After splashing water on her face to remove the last remnants of sleep, a shoe-less Lexa padded down the hall to the front rooms, hoping to find someone else awake. As luck would have it, there was.
Jesse was hunched over the only computer in the house, located in the far corner of the living room. For once, he had both hands on the keyboard, and was typing furiously. Lexa was surprised to him awake. Given his nocturnal habits and his injuries, she would have thought he'd sleep much later.
Lexa placed a hand on his shoulder. "What are you doing up so early?"
He started. "The sunlight woke me up. I'm not used to it, given all the time I spend in Sanctuary. If I ever did go out, it was usually after dark. The sunlight practically blinded me."
"I know what you mean. Same thing happened to me. How are you feeling?"
Jesse finally glanced up, but only for a moment before returning to the screen. "Absolutely fine. Not even sore. Seems my brain is back in order, too. I've got some ideas for what we can do next, but I'm not sure if they'll pan out. I'm researching them right now. I was going to go over them when everybody got up."
"How long have you been up?"
"About an hour, I think."
"Hmm. Well, I still can't think. It's way too early. I'm going to see if I can scrounge up some coffee. Want any?"
There was no response.
"O..K.." Lexa turned to the kitchen, leaving Jesse furrowing his brow at the computer. He was in his 'pit bull' mode now. He'd come up for air when he was ready.
Forty-five minutes later Brennan walked into the kitchen, yawning and scratching his stomach. Shalimar was right behind him, holding on to his shirt, letting him drag her into the kitchen.
"I woke up and smelled coffee. Figured I'd slept long enough and it was time to start the day," he said.
Lexa and Shalimar glared at him. In a strange karmic twist, Brennan was the member of Mutant X closest to being a morning person.Brennan ignored their looks. "I saw Jess out there." He poured himself and Shalimar cups of coffee. "Let's go see what we can come up with."
"How's your shoulder," Lexa asked as they strode into the living room, her third cup of coffee in her hand.
Brennan lowered himself into the same chair he'd sat in last night. "It'll be fine. Be sore for a while, though."
"Anyone got any ideas about what to do next?"
Well, Shal…. I do know that we can't go back to Sanctuary. At least for a month or so. It'll take that long for the contaminants from the reactor I fried to clear out. That much I remember about my first days at Sanctuary."
"What about the place where you guys found Adam? Can we get anything out of that?"
"No, the Dominion probably combed through that place when they captured Jesse there."
"Speaking of Adam, Lexa, do you have any idea where they might have taken him?"
"No clue. I only knew about a couple of dominion facilities, but one was the one that blew up last night and the other was shut down a few months ago. Most of my contacts were made in pubic places or over the computer."
"Do you think you can find out anything from here? I mean, is the Dominion gone completely? What kind of resources do they have?"
Lexa sighed. "I really don't know anything anymore. If Adam was right, and there is corruption inside the Dominion, I don't know who even is in charge. Not that I knew before, mind you. I wouldn't even know who to trust."
"Is there anyway you can get information from your non-dominion contacts?"
"Maybe. But I need access to a computer, and Jesse's monopolized this one. Hey Jess – where are there any more computers around here? Is there any other communication equipment?
"No."
The others all turned to stare at Jesse when they heard his soft whisper. Jesse was still staring at the computer screen, but his fingers had stilled over the keyboard. He wasn't completely motionless though; his eyes were blinking slowly and he was tilting his head as if confused.
"Hey, Jess," Brennan voiced, unable to see Jesse's facial expression. "Are you sure, man? I thought all the safehouses had all kinds of comm. equipment."
"What?" Jesse's trance-like fixation on the computer finally broke and he glanced over his shoulder at Brennan. "Oh, um…yeah, there should be another terminal downstairs somewhere. It should be working."
"What do you mean should? Would they have been shut down for some reason?"
"Um, I don't know." Jesse's attention was back on the computer screen. He used his index finger to trace a line of code, then resumed his ministrations of the keyboard.
"Hey, Jesse, come on…" Shalimar tried to get his attention. "Do you know if the computer is still connected to Sanctuary's network?"
Suddenly there was a loud screeching sound as Jesse jumped up from his chair, causing it to scrape across the wooden floor. "I don't know!" he said sternly. "Just go downstairs! I'm sure if it's broken that Lexa or any of you could fix it."
Brennan stood up, slowly but intentionally putting his body between Jesse and Shalimar. "Are you OK, man? She was just asking a question."
Jesse huffed, turned around, and paced, rubbing his forehead and combing his fingers through his hair. When he returned to the site of his outburst, he let out a breath. "I'm sorry, guys. It's just that I've almost got a handle on something, and, well, you guys are being a bit, um…distracting. Could you guys just please all go downstairs?"
"OK, but is there anything we can do to help?" Shalimar's voice remained soft, testament to her shock at seeing her young brother uncharacteristically agitated.
"No, no. But if I'm on to what I think I'm onto, Adam had plans in case something like this happened. I should have some more details in about, oh…a couple of hours?"
"OK." Brennan was already leading the way to the stairs. "We'll meet you back here in three hours?"
Shalimar was reluctant. She wanted to know why Jesse was acting so strange. Brennan tugged on her arm. "Come on…he just needs some time," he whispered in her ear.
Jesse watched the others disappear into the hallway. He took a deep breath and let it out to steady himself. Turning, he went back to the computer. If this file turned out to be what he thought it was, a large part of their problem would be solved. But it also meant that there was trouble ahead.
AN: I know, I know…no real secrets given out here, but they're coming. Thanks again for all the reviews. They're like warm fuzzies ;-)